FULL TITLE: Principes de Cosmographie. Tiréz d’un manuscrit de Viette, & traduits en François. Corrigées & augmentées. 3rd edition
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Language French
Written by (François Viète), likely compiled from heterogeneous sources by Tristan L’Hermite
Published by Jean Behort, Rouen, 1647
DESCRIPTION:
Very rare 3rd edition of this 17th-century cosmography manual, historically attributed to François Viète but likely compiled from heterogeneous sources by Tristan L’Hermite.
Viète, Francois. Principes de Cosmographie. Tiréz d’un manuscrit de Viette, & traduits en François. Corrigées & augmentées. Rouen: Jean Behort, 1647. 3rd edition, 12mo, [8], pp. 1–24, 53–72 [misnumbered 172], figs., 12mo; pp. 25–52 lacking; Title-page with woodcut vignette, tailpieces, and decorated initials; two woodcut diagrams on A2 recto, Av verso, decorated initials. Limp vellum binding, with old owner's signatures on ffep, "M. Tabouret(?)", as well as others in old ink; annotations in old ink throughout text.
The work is divided into three sections: Traité de la Sphère (rudiments of cosmography), Éléments de Géographie (toponymic catalogues with brief descriptions), and Éléments d’Astronomie (constellations, planetary data, and astrological correspondences). The portion of missing text begins at section "Elemens de Geographie."
Historically interesting, bridging Renaissance and early modern cosmography, Isabelle Pantin (Littérales, 2003) suggests the work was likely not written by François Viète: its elementary science, lack of mathematics, archaic cosmology, and mixed chronological features point instead to a compilation from varied sources, assembled by Tristan L’Hermite. The work’s rigid geocentrism is not just conservative—it is historically revealing. By 1637, this was already intellectually outdated: astronomical debates about world systems were widely known. The strict geocentrism presented in the text supports the idea that the book is a compilation of earlier sources rather than an original 17th-century scientific treatise.
CONDITION:fair-good condition; limp vellum with minor stains, discoloration and wrinkling, missing pages 25-52 (missing text includes the first portion of the "Elemens de Geographie"), p.119 with water stains, the last leaf (p.171-72) is ripped more than in half, leaving only a small portion of text on p.171, but all text including "Finis" on p.172; ffep still attached but torn with large lack, also missing back free endpaper; pencil markings and old notations on front endpapers, math notations on back attached endpaper, which is ripped and detached from vellum binding.
BOOK MEASUREMENTS: 12mo, 147 mm X 90 m
Total Length: [8], pp. 9–24, 53–72 [misnumbered 172], figs., 12mo; pp. 25–52 lacking.
